And that could be a home run for Martin Luther King III, who wants to become the first black owner in Major League Baseball, a baseball source said yesterday.

“[Met owner] Fred Wilpon needs money, and I think that whoever comes in to buy the Mets is going to have to have very deep pockets and ready cash,” the expert said.

No problem, King’s partner Larry Meli says.

“We have the deep pockets, and deep pockets means cash. Our guys could do this, no question,” Meli said.

The Post reported Sunday that King, son of the civil-rights leader, and Meli lead a group of investors — including original Amazin’ Ed Kranepool and Donn Clendenon Jr., son of the 1969 World Series-winning Mets — seeking to buy the cash-strapped Flushing franchise.

In his first public comments on the issue, King yesterday acknowledged that the Mets have had a tough few years.

“Well, no tougher than the Braves,” he joked at his suburban Atlanta home.

He later issued a statement saying, if he “personally, or as part of a collective, can advance the vision of a more diverse ownership group in professional sports . . . then, like my father, I am prepared to act in that spirit.”